Conservationist Emmanuel de Merode shot after trying to protect gorillas in Congo

Goma: Environmentalists around the world have condemned the shooting of a Belgian conservationist who has struggled to protect Africa's mountain gorillas in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

Emmanuel de Merode, director of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo's war scarred North Kivu province, was attacked on Tuesday as he travelled alone by jeep from the regional capital Goma to a nearby nature conservation centre.

A colleague said he was attacked after filing a report into the actions of a British oil company, SOCO International, which had sought to prospect in an area overlapping the park.

''This is the first time the director de Merode has been directly attacked. We don't yet know the motive for this attack,'' Norbert Mushenzi, the director's assistant, said. ''Mr de Merode had just filed a report with the public prosecutor in Goma comprising the results of months – even years – of investigation into SOCO International.''

In 2010 SOCO International won a government contract to jointly prospect for oil on a concession overlapping the park's territory, but Kinshasa later suspended the permit under international pressure.

Mr De Merode, who is about 40, was reportedly rescued by an army patrol and rushed to the Heal Africa hospital in Goma where he underwent surgery to remove bullets. ''He was shot in the stomach and the thorax. He had surgery and is still in intensive care, and according to the surgeon, so far there is hope,'' hospital spokesman Ferdinand Mugisho said.

North Kivu province has been ravaged by successive conflicts for more than 20 years.